BOOK REVIEWS
The Crigler Mounds, Sites Be 20 and
Be 27, and the Hartman
Mound, Site Be 32, Boone County,
Kentucky. By William
S. Webb. With Chapter on Physical
Anthropology. By
Charles E. Snow. University of
Kentucky Reports in An-
thropology and Archaeology, Vol. V, no. 6. (Lexington,
University of Kentucky, 1943. 74p. 20
figs. 10 tables.)
This new report on the Adena Complex in
Kentucky is the
sixth in a series of eight bulletins
describing mound explorations
of an important prehistoric Indian
culture.
The Crigler mounds were on the bluff of
the Ohio River nine
miles southwest of Cincinnati. They were
excavated with W.P.A.
labor under the immediate supervision of
Mr. John B. Elliott.
Mr. Elliott is to be congratulated for
his excellent field technique
as indicated by his maps and
photographs.
Mound Be 27 was a small mound which
proved to have been
built over a cremated burial placed on
the original surface of the
ground. With the burial were a few minor
artifacts.
Mound Be 20 was an elongated mound
fifteen feet in height.
It had been erected over the site of a
circular house which was 56
feet in diameter. The door of this house
faced to the east and
opposite it at the back wall was a raised
clay platform or "dais."
Around the interior there were
apparently benches or seats ar-
ranged in a circular pattern as
indicated by post molds. At the
center was a fireplace. This house was
burned and a log-tomb
was built over the "dais" in
which was placed an extended burial
and two cremated burials. A second
log-tomb was adjacent to
the first. A primary mound was erected
over these tombs and
later, other tombs were built and
covered with earth thus forming
the large main mound. The artifacts and
the potsherds found in
the mound are of the usual Adena type
with the exception of a
platform pipe and a cannel coal ring of
Hopewell type. These two
64
BOOK REVIEWS
65
artifacts may have no significant
connection with the mound but
may have been incidentally covered up.
Webb suggests that the
cremated burials in the main log-tomb
may have been human sac-
rifices.
The Hartman mound was a small mound
about three feet
high on the bluff overlooking the Ohio
River opposite Lawrence-
burg, Indiana. It was built over a
sub-floor burial pit which con-
tained a single extended skeleton partly
burned. With the burial
were typical Adena artifacts including
five semi-keeled stone gor-
gets. The pit was surrounded by a ring
of earth covered with
flat limestone slabs. Eight other
burials were found in the mound
proper, and, in addition, scattered
human bones occurred in the
fill. These burials, of the re-burial
type, were without artifacts
and are considered by Webb to have been
intrusive in nature.
The skulls from mound Be 20 were found
by Snow to fit into
the established Adena type, a
round-headed type with occipital
deformation. The main burial of the
Hartman mound also con-
formed to this type while the intrusive
burials were found to be
of a different type, a long-headed type
similar to the Algonkin of
the eastern woodlands.
R. G. M.
Recent Advances in American Archaeology:
Papers Read before
the American Philosophical Society
Annual Meeting, April
23, 24, 25, 1942. Proceedings of the
American Philosophical
Society, Vol. 86, no. 2. (Philadelphia, The American Phil-
osophical Society, 1943. 122p. Illus.)
Within the last twenty-five years the
advancements in Ameri-
can archaeology have been most
encouraging not only in the
presentation of new material but also in
the re-evaluation of old
problems. This summary of several fields
of archaeology is an at-
tempt to present the unacquainted reader
with a general knowl-
edge of recent work, its contributions
and problems and consists
of a group of papers read before the
American Philosophical
Society at their annual meeting.
66
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
In the field of early man Frank C.
Hibben's paper contains
conclusive evidence of a pre-Folsom
culture at Sandia Cave. In
this area another site contemporaneous
with Gypsum Cave was dis-
covered with the same Sandia or
pre-Folsom culture at a lower
level in the cave. In connection with
the Folsom culture we must
not overlook the Yuma points whose
chronological position has
not been determined. While H. B.
Collins, Jr., would place Yuma
later than Folsom, E. B. Howard fails to
venture a guess in the
light of the present evidence. The many
problems dealing with
Folsom and Yuma, such as glacial dating,
typology, and Alaska-
Siberia relationships, need intensive
study. Collins feels certain
that the oldest Eskimo cultures are
considerably later than Folsom.
Interesting new discoveries by L. S.
Cressman in south-cen-
tral Oregon have presented evidence of
cultural affinity between
Oregon-Nevada sites and Anasazi. Either
the Oregon-Nevada
material is in a direct line of origin
of early Anasazi or they both
branched from a common northern stem. E.
W. Haury also sug-
gests a similar culture from southern
Arizona, called Cochise, as
a Mogollon-Hohokam ancestor.
Reconstruction of later south-
western history, according to H. S.
Colton, depends upon the
recognition of tribes or branches and
the construction of a time
scale. In the main, this has been
accomplished, but a breakdown
of Anasazi branches shows up numerous
problems. While Colton
recognizes the widespread effects of
drouth, arroyo cutting and
other crises upon cultural history as
manifested in migrations
and the dying out of cultures, he fails
to point out that in some
cases a crisis was contemporaneous with
cultural development.
For example, in Chaco canyon the period
of the finest masonry
at Chetro Ketl prevailed from 1035-1041
A. D. during a drouth.
The application of scientific techniques
in the Latin American
area within the last two decades has
resulted in remarkable
progress. As G. C. Vaillant has
indicated, the value of the Aztec
work lies in its use as a laboratory to
test documentary evidence
against archaeological discoveries.
Similarly transformations which
occurred in the Aztec period may be
found in other new world
cultures. Careful excavation by W. C.
Bennett enabled him to
BOOK REVIEWS 67
place Chavin in Andean chronology as a
third pan-Peruvian
period.
Eastern archaeologists must face the
important problems of
classification and chronology.
Fay-Cooper Cole has presented a
classification for the middle-western
area. On the other hand for
the Southeast, T. M. N. Lewis found a
different classification must
be set up. While northeastern and middle-western relationships
are present in the Southeast and while
the broader categories of
Archaic, Woodland, etc., are applicable,
the trait complexes com-
prising these are difficult to
determine. Work by Dorothy Cross
on Abbott Farm would seem to move
eastern chronology forward.
W. A. Ritchie's work on early phases of
northeastern archaeology
establishes a hunting-gathering people
lacking pottery and agri-
culture. He feels this culture to have
physical and cultural affilia-
tions with the early Basketmaker horizon
in the Southwest.
Ritchie, however, offers no further
explanation or proof.
It must be expected that any summary
carries with it the
natural mistakes of generalization. In
certain cases no new ma-
terial was presented and there was
merely a retelling of previous
work which lacked any new evaluations.
Nevertheless, the value
of the symposium lies in its use as a
basis for further reading. It
is hoped that the future will bring
forth similar digests so neces-
sary to both the student and
professional in this field.
SUSAN GOLDEN.
Arthur St. Clair--Rugged Ruler of the
Old Northwest. An Epic
of the American Frontier. By Frazer Ells Wilson. (Rich-
mond, Va., Garrett and Massie, Inc.,
1944. 250p. Illus. $3.00.)
Injustice has often been meted out to
individuals because of
some unfortunate circumstance, meanwhile
overlooking other serv-
ices of merit. The reviewer has always
felt that, because of cer-
tain unfortunate occurrences, full
justice has never been given
General Arthur St. Clair, the soldier
and first governor of the
old Northwest Territory.
The first real effort to meet this need
has been made by
Frazer E. Wilson of Greenville who has
been a student and au-
68
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
thor for many years. He has specialized
on this particular period
of western history, having published The Peace of Mad Anthony
in 1909, The Journal of Captain
Bradley in 1935, and Advancing
the Ohio Frontier in 1937. He has also contributed to the publica-
tions of the Ohio State Archaeological
and Historical Society, to
county histories and other books on
frontier life.
Mr. Wilson, in his book on "Arthur
St. Clair, rugged ruler
of the Old Northwest," has given us
the first comprehensive,
popular life of Arthur St. Clair, a
soldier of the French and
Indian War, a major-general in the
Revolutionary War, a presi-
dent of the Continental Congress and
first governor of the old
Northwest Territory. Mr. Wilson has
presented not only the mili-
tary and political phases of St. Clair's
varied life, but he has re-
vealed many intimate phases of his
family and private life. It
was largely inspired by the fact that
the author has always lived
near the scene of the Indian campaigns
and the Treaty of Greene
Ville.
Among the interesting data secured by
Mr. Wilson and here
revealed are St. Clair's headquarters at
Chillicothe, an old song
on "Sinclaire's Defeat," his
home in Cincinnati and Ligonier,
Pennsylvania, the St. Clair coat-of-arms
and many other things of
interest. The many illustrations add
much to the value of the book.
The book is divided into twelve chapters
with bibliography
and index and contains 250 pages. It is
one which should be in
every public and school library,
especially in the Old Northwest,
and in the homes of all interested in
this phase of the Nation's his-
tory. Mr. Wilson is fortunate in
securing Garrett and Massie,
Inc., Richmond, Virginia, for the
publishers of the book.
H. L.
BOOK REVIEWS 69
The Flag of the United States. [By] Milo Milton Quaife. (New
York, Grosset & Dunlap, C1942. xiv+210p. XIII plates
(part
colored) incl. front. $2.00.)
The Flag of the United States is an authentic history of the
evolution of our national flag, by one
of the country's outstanding
scholars and historians, Dr. M. M.
Quaife, secretary and editor of
the Burton Historical Collection,
Detroit Public Library.
Beginning with a chapter on flags as
national symbols, Dr.
Quaife presents in chapter II the story
of England's flag, and in
chapters III and IV the history of the
flags of Spain, France,
Holland and England in America. Chapter
V describes early
revolutionary battle flags, while
chapters VI to XIV recount the
birth, development and history of our
national emblem from 1775
to the present. Banners of the
Confederate States of America are
treated in chapter XV. Chapters XVI and
XVII are the screen-
ings of myth and fiction concerning the
flag, which remain after
the good grain of truth and fact have
been threshed. The
philosophy of the flag is set forth in
the final chapter.
Every American should read this book.
Not only does it give
facts to satisfy the mind, but, coming
as it does in these trouble-
some days, it has a message for the
heart and soul. It is most at-
tractive in blue cloth, with many
colored plates. An index makes
it useful to the student. As a Christmas
gift to young patriots it
is highly appropriate. C. L. W.
Morgan and His Raiders: A Biography
of the Confederate Gen-
eral. By Cecil Fletcher Holland. (New York, Macmillan
Co., 1943. xv+373p. Illus. $3.50.)
With a background of newspaper editing,
Cecil Fletcher Hol-
land, the author of Morgan and His
Raiders writes the biog-
raphy of a Confederate general in a
reporter's style. Shorn
of unnecessary details, the general's
portrait is drawn with inti-
mate accuracy and the story moves along
at a quick pace. Morgan
swirls through the pages of the book
striking, disappearing and
70 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
completely confusing his enemies in the
struggle for the states of
Kentucky and Tennessee. He, together
with General Forrest,
another great Confederate cavalry
leader, is credited by the author
with developing the tactics of movement
which are basic in mod-
ern mechanized warfare.
The book is based on first-hand source
material which was
found by the author in an old trunk in a
Tennessee barn. From
official communications between Morgan
and his superiors, letters
to and from Morgan and his wife and
personal diaries, Holland
was able to recapture the dangers and
anxieties of the years of
the Rebellion.
Of special interest to Ohioans is the
account of Morgan's ill-
fated raid through Indiana and Ohio, and
his subsequent impris-
onment in the State Penitentiary at
Columbus. The treatment
which the gallant Southerner and his men
received there is a
shameful page in our history.
J. R. L.
Sevenmile Harvest. By Margaret Withrow Farny. (Caldwell,
N. J., Progress Publishing Company, 1942. 253p.)
Small, black-haired John, aged six or
seven or eight, "did
wish he could have a look at the Red
Sea, red as pig's blood and
bigger far than a river." He would
like to have people say of
him, "Yonder walks John Murphy
Withrow, the prophet of these
hills. Wiser far is he than any of his
brethren, yet only a short-
limbed runt begat by John and Margaret,
his wife, in the year of
the harvest of 1854 on the banks of the
great Dry Fork Creek,
where was his dwelling place." But
instead of the Red Sea,
young John had the little Miami and his
dwelling place was Jack-
sonboro and Sevenmile in Butler County,
Ohio--but the prophet
of those hills always made his dreams
count.
From childhood days of wondering at
deaths and births and
diseases ("Didn't mothers raise any
children to be six? Is it the
cholera ? -- And why do many Mas die,
but not so much the
Pas?"), the far-visioned boy knew
his heart was set "to try med-
BOOK REVIEWS 71
icines on people"--and if not
people--dogs. His first ministering
service was on his old dog Ned
who very much needed anti-biting
tonic. But, lest the biting-end bite,
cautious John dosed the tail
end; all the treatment gained was John's
early reputation for
daring among the younger boys.
At fifteen, after encouragement from Old
Doc Corson and
over Pa's growling about expensive
schooling and the farm's poor
crops, John set off for Miami
University, Oxford. Not until 13
years later after upper class years at
Ohio Wesleyan, and several
stubborn, remunerative terms teaching
school, and more years of
eager medical apprenticeship, did John
begin his formal education
in medicine. The years at the Medical College
of Ohio were stim-
ulating but sacrificial and in June,
1884, John proudly opened up
dismal offices on Seventh and John
Streets, Cincinnati. His career
advanced swiftly with an early
appointment to the staff of the
City Hospital, to Christ Hospital, to
City Health Officer, and on
and on. Soon hardly an enterprise in all
Cincinnati went forth
without his interest and influence for
Dr. Withrow was as much
concerned with community legislation and
school systems as with
medicine.
John's marriage to Sarah Hickenlooper,
genteel, blue-stock-
ing, was blessed with a small houseful
of young Withrows, all gay
and adoring. Margaret, the author, tells
fondly of their life to-
gether, and though the story is
rollicking and real, it is perhaps too
self-conscious and too fond. In
general, Mrs. Farny writes with
a strange and rare detachment, yet,
forgivably, at times gets so
close to John she almost smothers him.
This can become an un-
comfortable perspective for the
impersonal reader.
Sevenmile Harvest is a lively, full, changing history--of a
man, a profession, a city and an age.
Ohioans remember Dr.
Withrow as a man of truly great stature,
and Cincinnatians as one
of their most loyal and creative
leaders. Mrs. Farny's devoted
biography of the "small country
bumpkin" who was her father is
a proud monument to the man he was.
Columbus, Ohio. ARDIS HILLMAN WHEELER
72
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Mark Twain: Man and Legend. By De Lancey Ferguson. (In-
dianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1943. 352p. Front.
$3.00.)
The author of this newest and probably
best biography of the
great American humorist is a professor
of English at Western
Reserve University in Cleveland. For a
long time he has not only
made a study of Samuel Clemens' writings
but he has also formed
the habit of reviewing practically every
Twain biography which
appeared in print. This gave him an
opportunity to profit by the
shortcomings of his colleagues. It also
enabled him to collect quite
an accumulation of Twainiana.
In the course of his reviewing,
Professor Ferguson spared no
sensitivities whenever he disapproved of
a particular biography.
In fact, one such review was so
outspoken a "sizzler," that a wag
in the editorial office of the
periodical to which it was submitted,
suggested that the critique be wrapped
in asbestos, lest it cause a
conflagration en route to the printers!
Of another biographer, the professor
complained that her
work was "too thorough" and at
the same time "badly written."
Therefore, apparently, he set out to do
better himself. It seems
that he has succeeded.
Employing the method of linking events
in Twain's life with
their subsequent use in his literary
work, Ferguson was able to
produce a fair and objective
re-appraisal of both Samuel Clemens
the man and Mark Twain the humorist.
Here is a colorful picture
of the untidy, independent eccentric,
with his infinite capacity for
making friends, the lovably humorous
story of his courtship, the
sincere and touching tale of his family
loss, and the courageous
recital of how he faced and triumphed
over the bankruptcy of his
publishing ventures. Not only does this
latest study include some
previously unpublished letters, but Dr.
Ferguson has examined the
hitherto neglected original manuscript
of Huckleberry Finn, to
demolish such distorted ideas as those
about Twain being an em-
bittered idealist or his writings having
suffered from the Puri-
tanic censorship practiced by his wife.
On the whole, the story is well told and
the style good,
BOOK REVIEWS 73
though with a little more care, the
author might have avoided
using "buts" at the beginnings
(of so many paragraphs (and at
least one time, even "and"--p.
89). In all these cases a better
transitional word might have been
substituted and in one instance
(p. 39) the "but" seemed
entirely superfluous.
All in all, Mark Twain, Man and
Legend is a fresh portrait
of an old but still thoroughly beloved
subject--that most American
of this country's writers, the
inimitable Mark.
B. E. J.
Rivers to the Sea; an American Story.
By Lucien Hubbard. (New
York, Simon and Schuster, 1942. 313p. $2.50.)
Anyone who enjoys historical fiction
told with plenty of
thrills and color added will like Rivers
to the Sea. The Ohio and
Mississippi rivers in the early 1800's
provide the setting for the
main theme of the story--the building
and sailing of the New
Orleans, the first steamboat to ply those waters. To the actual
characters concerned with this event,
Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas
Roosevelt, and the builders and crew of
the New Orleans, the
author has joined Davie Thomas, a young
man of mechanical bent
seeking his fortune in the West; Katie
O'Doone and Lucy Vail,
two attractive young women interested in
Davie; and a group of
tough rivermen intent on destroying the New
Orleans because
they think it will disrupt their
livelihood of keel-boating.
Mr. Hubbard has been both a journalist
and a motion-picture
director, and knows well how to put a
wealth of action into a few
incisive words. We feel the astonishment
of the people of Pitts-
burgh when they see the New Orleans moving
under its own
power before their very eyes; we
experience every blow in the
rough and tumble river fights. What an
excellent movie scenario
this would make! Quite possibly, the
author had this in mind
when he wrote the story. The tumult of
the Pittsburgh wharves
when the Monongahela and Allegheny rise
in the spring, enabling
the rivermen to float their cargoes to
New Orleans, the lush de-
74
OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
cadence of Natchez-under-the-Hill, and
the cosmopolitan at-
mosphere of New Orleans, where the tale
ends, would certainly
make a movie with historical as well as
entertainment value.
N. R. Midshipmen's School, ELIZABETH C. BIGGERT
Northampton, Mass.
Clipped Wings. By Adah Glasener Harris. (Philadelphia, Dor-
rance and Co., Inc., 1943. 320p. Cloth.
$2.50.)
The author of this story is an Ohio
woman living in Dayton.
She tells the story of five generations
of the family who lived in
the little town of Millfork in Ashland
County. The story centers
about Caroline Harper who lived for
ninety years, dying in 1940.
The book opens with the description of a
family Thanksgiving
feast in 1886, but goes back to 1820
when the first representative
of the family came from Maryland to
Ohio. Hotel life in the
middle of the 19th century is portrayed
together with the changing
scenes to which this family was
subjected during the years between
1850 and 1940. The author states that
all the characters and
situations in the book are entirely
fictitious. Yet, the picture pre-
sented of changes in modes of
transportation, music and home
life makes an impression much clearer
than the usual treatment of
such subjects as told in ordinary text
books and histories.
H. L.
Hills of Clay. By Myrtle L. Reeder. Illustrations by Esther
Weakley. (Columbus, O., The F. J. Heer
Printing Co., 1942.
81p. Illus. $1.50.)
Scale of Values. By Faye Chilcote Walker. (Columbus, O.,
The F. J. Heer Printing Co., 1941. 77p. $1.50.)
Songs against the Dark. [By]
Dorothy Priscilla Albaugh,
(Worthington, O., 1941. 54p. Front.
$1.OO.)
In these days when it seems that every
other person one meets
has been guilty of versifying, it is a
real treat to find "all in one
BOOK REVIEWS 75
heap" three books of
honest-to-goodness poetry. The ladies who
authored these volumes are Franklin
County, Ohio, residents, two
of Columbus and one of Worthington. Mrs.
Reeder's poems are
illustrated by Esther Weakley, better
known as a columnist and
a poet in her own right, who also lives
in Columbus.
The gift of song is a precious thing, to
be cherished and
shared. All can profit from the reading
of these idealistic, sym-
pathetic, heart-warming, lyrical poems.
It is fine that, between
attractive covers, they have been made
available for a wider public
than the poets' immediate circles of
relatives and friends.
Since this is not the place for a
critical review of books of
poetry, the reviewer must content
himself with a few samplings
from the pages of each:
"SILVERED YEARS
"I no longer wait for love to come
to me
On shining feet . . .
I have passed beyond the crossroads
Where lovers meet,
"And stand amid the throng of those
With silvered years,
Who watch the loves of others
Through a mist of tears."
--Reeder, p. 35.
"I AM
"I typify the best, the worst
Of earth's immeasurable plan;
I am the last who shall be first;
I am the present hope of man.
"I am a blade of grass, or less,
I am an atom bound by space,
I am the least of nothingness
From no particular place.
"I travel with the common herd;
I, nameless of a nameless clan,
Am but a voice denied a word--
I am the common man."
--Walker, p. 17.
76
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
"DEEP QUIET BREATH
"I do not ask for yesterday
Again. Its joys and tears
Will arch in wistful, rainbow tints
Above the length of years.
"I do not crave tomorrow's dawn.
Its faint, ascending gleam
Must beckon always, on ahead,
To still another dream.
"But may I, with deep, quiet breath
Live so abundantly,
That I shall find how beautiful
God meant each day to be."
--Albaugh, p. 10.
C. L. W.
Look to the Mountain. By Le Grand Cannon, Jr. (New York,
Henry Holt and Co., 1942. 547p. Map. $2.75.)
We Americans pride ourselves on the
stalwartness of our
founding fathers and cannot hear the
tale of hardships overcome
told too often. Undoubtedly, the great
popularity of Look to the
Mountain, a novel of New Hampshire in the 1760's, is due in part
to this interest.
Mr. Cannon's style has the effortless
ease of the born story-
teller, and his delineation of the
everyday life in Kettleford and,
later, the frontier farm life near Mount
Chororua, charm even
those of us who think that the pioneer
theme is, perhaps, running
dry. Though the book lacks plot, graphic
descriptions of such
events as the mowing contest between
Whit Livingston and Jose
Filipe, and the perilous river journey
of Whit and his bride, Me-
lissa, to their new home make exciting
reading. The principal
characters, Whit and Melissa, are simple
country people, warmly
alive and independent. Their courageous
plans and the final frui-
tion of them are unfolded
sympathetically and realistically.
As a pioneer story this book can be
highly recommended for
BOOK REVIEWS 77
its sincerity and readability. Mr.
Cannon has done a superb piece
of work with his materials, but we
wonder why he chose those
which have been rewoven so often by
other writers.
N. R. Midshipmen's School, ELIZABETH C. BIGGERT
Northampton, Mass.
Flaming River; A Tale of the Great
Titusville [Pa.] Oil Fire of
1892. By
Reuben E. Stainbrook. (Meadville,
Pa., The
Tribune Publishing Co., 1940. 271p. $2.50.)
Flaming River is a sensational story with boys in the leading
roles, written largely in the tradition
of Horatio Alger, Jr. As
fiction it has little to recommend it.
Boys would enjoy the sus-
pense, the tense moments, and the rapid
action, yet there are
enough objectionable features present to
make it of doubtful
value.
The story purports to have a historical
background, having
for its setting Titusville, Pa., located
in the valley where the oil
industry was born, with the principal
events occurring in 1892,
being a description of the oil fire
disaster. As historical fiction,
however, it has much to be desired. The
author admits that he
has jumbled "events which occurred
during the Titusville oil fire
of 1880, and the fire and flood of
1892," which seems inexcusable,
although the reader's forgiveness is
asked.
C. L. W.
The Trans-Mississippi West: A Guide
to Its Periodical Literature
(1811-1938). By Oscar Osburn Winther. Indiana Univer-
sity Publications, Social Science
Series, No. 3. (Bloomington,
Indiana University, 1942. xv+263p.
$1.50.)
The seeker of flaws may find fault with
any guide or bibli-
ographical compilation, for it is
impossible to make such a work
all inclusive and the emphasis of
evaluation must properly be,
therefore, on the inclusions rather than
the omissions. From this
78
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
point of view, the trans-Mississippi
guide is an effective piece of
work, well-constructed, with logical
topical divisions, a help-
ful list of 60 periodicals and an
imposing author index. The topics
range alphabetically from Alaska to
Wyoming and stretch geo-
graphically from British Columbia to
Mexico, including such typi-
cally western subjects as
"California gold rush," "cattle," "fur
trade," "Lewis and Clark
expedition," "Mormons" and "Oregon
Trail." The items are numbered
throughout and these numbers
are the clews in the author index. The
references to the periodi-
cals are abbreviated and the items are
identified as articles, jour-
nals and diaries, letters, official
documents, etc. The kind of type
and style of make-up add to the volume's
readability and sufficient
leading makes even the index fairly easy
to use.
There were some omissions, which may
either have been
oversights or were squeezed out in the
process of selection. On
the whole, however, the guide will find
a useful niche on the
library shelf or in the researcher's
bookcase. Similar guides for
other regions are needed.
B. E. J.
Suez to Singapore. By Cecil Brown. (New York, Random
House, c1942. 545p. $3.50.)
"I report in this book, with the
greatest objectivity that is
in me, the deeds of the men who are
fighting and guiding this
war, as I found them before, during and
after battle. I fought,
as best I could, to report this war to
the American people. . . .
Truth and understanding give us the will
to fight this all-out war
for victory, freedom and all-out
peace." This is Cecil Brown's
noble dedication of his day-by-day war
report and diary. After
reading his 533 stirring pages, one is
amazed at his sound,
thorough frankness--for Cecil Brown is a
bed-rock realist who
has full faith in the American public to
take the news as is.
Cecil Brown in his round-the-world
assignments steadily
fought two wars: one against the Fascist
enemies and one against
the British censors. It was a maddening
tragedy to him to feel
BOOK REVIEWS 79
compelled to report the truth and to be hand-tied--and tongue-
tied--by the officious military. He
doesn't laugh at England's
notorious faculty for "muddling
through." To him it was a costly
indulgence which almost lost them the
war in the first two years.
Yet he doesn't mean to name-call emptily
for he consistently gives
credit where credit is due--but he
maintains to the last that Eng-
land came through the first two years in
spite of her blundering
only through awful, naked courage.
Rarely does such a book introduce its
readers so casually, yet
intimately and importantly, to the big
and little names with which
it is concerned. Backstage glimpses of
General Auchinleck, Sir
Robert Brooke-Popham, Jimmy Roosevelt
("a regular guy, not a
stuffed shirt . . . I like him."),
Colonel Tod in Syria who told
American correspondents when news broke:
"Now here is the
line we want you to take in your stories
. . ."; Duff Cooper; the
shy, sweet Chinese girl, Ching Yeuk,
"the only girl I have en-
countered here [Singapore] with whom I
have the slightest desire
to spend the evening . . ." and
others almost on every page.
Suez to Singapore reports the war from the early desperate
days of Syria to the incredible debacles
of Malaya. There is an
up-swing in tone as, at the last, en
route tortuously home, he ob-
serves first-hand the heartening
efficiency of the Dutch and later,
the Americans--both of whom, he feels,
economically put first
things first. "The Americans,"
says Cecil Brown, "translate com-
plaints into improvements"--the
British just complain. Readers
will hope we bear out his trust, as even
now, a year and a half
later, we feel clumsy with our own
mis-deeds and hindsight.
Mr. Brown, for his generous courage, has
a world-wide, ap-
preciative audience which welcomes
hearing the truth--so far as
the truth can safely be told. Even
during the sinking of the Re-
pulse and the Prince of Wales (which Mr. Brown
witnessed
aboard the Repulse), when
traditional die-ers would recall in
swift panorama their childhood, family,
friends, he looked blearily
around him and said: "Who do I know
in this sorry mess? Who's
got a camera around here?"
Out of that remarkable objectivity has
come some of the
80
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
finest news-reporting of the war. Yet,
Mr. Brown had enough
poetry in him to appreciate the tragic,
wonderful, futile courage
of the dying of the men on the Repulse,
and that poetry often re-
lieves the starkness of his
observations. This reporter's report,
boldly presented, has made journalistic
history.
Columbus, Ohio ARDIS HILLMAN
WHEELER
The Welcome Stranger. By Virginia L. Ward. (Philadelphia,
Dorrance and Co., Inc., 1943. 354P. $2.50.)
This most interesting story of the life
of Jim Coster gives a
vivid picture of the varied activities
on a large plantation in the
Kentucky Blue-Grass region a generation
ago. The author clearly
portrays the customs, dress and life of
old Kentucky. She not
only knows the language of the early
slaveowner, but that of the
slave and his children, all of whom play
important roles in the
romance. The writer gives samplings of
their music and song and
thus adds much to the story.
Colonel Jim Coster and his first wife,
Gincy Logan, had over
forty years of supreme happiness and yet
they had one great sor-
row. No heir had come to them to carry
on the name of Coster,
so when she died, the Colonel was left very
sad and lonely, even
with all his wealth and honor.
After many years of loneliness, he
married another Gincy
Logan, a girl of twenty--his first
wife's brother's daughter--as
beautiful as the first Gincy. This helps
complete his long and
thrilling life, but still leaves untold
the story of "The Welcome
Stranger."
The stranger is Judd Parker, who with
his wife and daugh-
ter, moved into the neighborhood.
Because Judd is sick and out
of work and so very poor, Colonel Jim
gains a new interest in life
by caring for Judd's family with the aid
of his life-long friend--
Dr. Arnett. Colonel Jim deeds to acres
to the Parkers and helps
them to build a three-room house; they
soon become an asset to
the neighborhood.
BOOK REVIEWS 81
When, however, a son Ezra, his wife and
four children, move
in with the Parkers before the year is
out, Coster begins to won-
der if he wasn't mistaken in giving so
much charity. Yet Ezra
Parker is a good minister and their
children are educated and well-
trained. So they, in time, not only help
in raising the school
standards of the neighborhood but also
in building a much-needed
new church. As the families get better
acquainted, Colonel Jim
and Judd Parker find they come from the
same stock, and are
really closely related. Small wonder
then they found such com-
panionship from the beginning.
The author, though a native Kentuckian,
now resides in Ohio.
Columbus, Ohio O. R. L.
Stories of Guernsey County, Ohio:
History of an Average Ohio
County. By William G. Wolfe. (Cambridge, Ohio, The
Author, 1943. 1093p. Illus. $4.00.)
Mr. Wolfe's contributions to Guernsey
County history have
been almost continuous for a number of
years. They have been
published in the local newspaper and
have been rewritten and are
now available in a book entitled Stories
of Guernsey County,
Ohio. Mr. Wolfe has rendered a real service to state and
local
history. The book represents years of
careful study and research
which places it in a class entirely
different from the usual histori-
cal study. In addition to the material,
the book is well illustrated
and contains a great deal of historical
data which will be of special
value to those interested in
genealogical research. The book should
be in every public library in the State
of Ohio. The preface is
written by Mr. Harry W. Amos, of
Cambridge, Ohio, editor of
The Jeffersonian and member of the Board of Trustees of the
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical
Society. Mr. Wolfe
was superintendent of Guernsey County
schools for twenty-one
years.
H. L.